Cast-metal railway-crossing.



B. N. STROM.

CAST METAL RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED 00117, 1.914,

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

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B. N. STROM.

CAST METAL RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED 001217, 1914.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

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E. N. STROM CAST METAL RAILWAY CROSSING. APPLICATION FILED 0011.17, 19141 ,1 21 ,305. Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

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Lab 1 6 1% WW UNITED STATES PATENT oFFioE.

EUGENE N. STROM, OFGHIOAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PE'ITIBONE 'MULLIKENCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A OORPORA'IION OF ILLINOIS.

CAST-METAL RAILWAY- CROSSING.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

hpplica'tloh'flledflctdber 17, 1914. Serial N0. 867,106.

cago, in the county of Cook and State of.

Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cast MetalRailway Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of castmetal railway-crossings.

The tendency in crossings of the kind to which the present improvementrelates is to break adjacent to the intersections of the wheel-flangegrooves under the blows and stresses exerted by the wheels atthese-intersections in traversing the crossing;

The primary object of my improvement is to reinforce these intersectionsagainst such breaking, especially at the angle thereof which is subjectto wheel pounding most frequently in the use of the, crossing; and it ismy further object to reinforceagainst cracking, in the cooling of thecasting, the extensions of the crossing at the rectangular ofi'setswhere the main rails of the track are fitted laterally against andspliced'to the extensions.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a planview showing one of thefour corner or intersecting portions of a rectangular cast-metalrailway-crossing; Fig. 1 is a plan'section taken just below the treadsin Fig. 1, and Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are enlarged sections on lines 2, 3 and4, Fig. 1, respectively, though in Fig. 4 is shown the fish-plate forsplicing the main rail to an arm of the cross. ing, omitted in Fig. 1 toavoid confusion.

Only one corner-portion of the crossing.

is shown in the drawings, to enable it to be illustrated on anadequately large scale and to avoid unnecesary multiplication of theshowing. It will be understood, however, that the other threecorner-portions are like. that shown, and that two may be provided as anintegral casting, two of such pairs forming halves of the crossing,being united by fish-plates, which is common practice in this art.

The tread-portions 5 having the vertical side-walls 6 provided withbase-flanges 7,

contain the usual wheel-flange grooves 8 thatintersect each other at thecentral part of the casting. The point in the intersection of thegrooves 8 which is subjected to most of the pounding by the wheel-treadsof trains traversing the crossing is at 8. That is to say, with asuccession of trains running from left to right and the same numberrunning from right to left, Fig. l, the point 8 and the opposite pointin line with it will each receive the same number of blows, the numberof wheels being-the same on each train and with the same number oftrains, in the samecondition as to number of wheels,

runningi-nopposite directions in the direction at right angles to thatfirst described, the point 8 will receive the same number of blows.Obviously, therefore, for each blow against each of the two otherpoints, the point 8 is subjected to two blows; and thus the crossing issubjected to the greatest strains of the wheels traversing it at itsfour points 8, and requires there the greatest reinforcement. To thusreinforce it, I cast on the under faces of the treads 5 extendingratright angles to each other with relation to the point 8 andintermediately of and parallel with the respective side-walls of thosetreads, a substantial depending rib 9 to.

bring the apex of the. angle it forms coincident with the angle at 8;and between that angle and the adjacent diagonally opposite angle of theouter diverging side-walls of the structure, I cast on the lower partsof the rib and those meeting walls a horizontal web 10. Thus, the forceof the wheel-blows against the point 8' is taken and distributed throughthe medium of the rib 9 and the diagonal web 10 over the adjacent artsof the crossing-structure, thereby shie ding it against fracture at thegrooved portion thereof adjacent to the aforesaid point.

To reinforce the structure along each of its four divergent arms, I casthorizontal webs 11 on the opposite side-walls 6 alon the bases of thosearms of the crossing, an vertical webs ll at intervals connecting thehorizontal webs withrthe bottom face of the tread; These horizontal websmight be continuous alongthe base of each arm, were it not for thenecessity of discharging the core-sand used in casting,for efiectingwhich discharge,openings 12 are provided between the webs 11. These webs11 and 11 take the strains exerted by the wheel-flan es against thesides of the grooves ,8 and 'stribute them over the structure, thusshieldlike the rail shown at 14: in Figs. 1 and 4:, are spliced, each bya fish-plate (Fig. 4), to an arm of the crossing. At these points, orangles, which are formed by rectangular offsets in the arms, the castingtends, in cooling, to crack in a diagonal direction. To there reinforceit, I cast on the under sides of. the tread-portions of those arms, ribs9 which are shown as and may be continuations of the rib 9, though inthat case the sections 9 should be oifset at 9* and again at 9 to extendalong the inner sides of the webs of the main rails 14 and fit againstthe latter and between their heads and base-flanges, as will be clearfrom the representation in Fig. 4:. Reinforcing webs l1 connect thelower parts of the ribs 9 with the adjacent vertical walls 6 of thedivergent arms at intervals, but the vertical webs 11 are omitted, asbeing unnecessary, along the ribs 9*.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:-

1. A hollow cast-metal railway-crossing having divergent arms formingtreads provided with intersecting wheel-flange grooves and side-walls,an angular reinforcing rib on the under faces of the treads of adjacentdiverging arms of the structure located between the vertical walls,having its angle 00- incident with that formed by the intersectingwheel-flange grooves, and a web connecting said rib and the verticalwalls at said angles.

2. A hollow cast-metal railway-crossing having divergent arms formingtreads provided with intersecting wheel-flange grooves rib and walls atsaid angle.

3. A hollow cast-metal railway-crossing having divergent arms providedwith rectangular ofisets at which to splice main rails, ribs cast on theunder faces of the tread-portions of the offset-sections of said armsand extending across said offsets, and horizontal webs cast integralwith and connecting said ribs and the adjacent vertical walls of saidarms at intervals.

4. A hollow cast-metal railway-crossing having divergent arms formingtreads provided with intersecting wheel-flange grooves and side-walls,and provided with rectangular offsets at which to splice main rails, anangular reinforcing rib cast on the under faces of the treads ofadjacent arms, extending across said offsets and provided with offsetsin the extended sections, said rib having its angle coincident with thatformed by the meeting of said walls, a web connecting said rib and wallsat their adjacent said anglee, and webs cast integral with and extendingat intervals along said rib and the bottom of said arms.

EUGENE N. STROM.

In presence ofg E. D. STEELE, O. C. AvIsUs.

